The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-10-07
Bananas all the Year.


A steamer unloading 1 @, 900 punches
IF bananas in New York. A stevadore
mounted on the deck, giving out or.
iers 10 d hGIiddre da cd iiongssItiore;sisEi o;ssEi wii0
stand in lines and pass the bunches Of
ruit from the hold of the vessel to
waiting trucks. Such was the scene a
Exporter beheld on adowntown wharf.
Two million bunches OF bananas
come into this port alone every year
aow," said the importer. Previous
70 1884 there were not near so many.
5chooners were employed, and they
took six weeks to make a trip, car
RED $500 punches. and lost quarter
Of them on account of the length OF
time afloat and the damage by salt
water. Now we have regular lines of
steamers that carry four or fine times
Is much fruit, and make such quick
Grips that there is practically no loss
Of Iruit."
Where do the bananas come from?"
"Well, the reds, which appear to be
he favorites, come from Baracoa,
Cuba. We get from $4,000 to 10000
punches of them week during
August, but less now that peaches are
III market. The yellow ones come from
Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica and
Nicaragua. There are some bananas
produced in Florida, but the home
demand prevents any coming here. 1t
WilIInot be long before the red banan-
as will be very scare, as the Cuban
olaaters are replacing them with .ae
yellow slips from Jamaica. The
cause of this is that the ysrsiiiow pro.
duce punches averaging from 81 to
1926, while the red viii not average
more than one dollar and half q
bunch"
"How do bananas grown"
On immense plantations, laid off in
to rows oftrees about eight feet apart
each way. The trunk of a banana
tree is composed of the stems OF leaves
and grows from fifteen to twenty feet
high. When the fruiting begins, a bud
appears at the top ofthe stem and de-
velops into g bunch OF bananas.
When the fruit is gathered the tree is
cut down and left to decay. and new
sprouts start up from the same root,
and thus the crop is continually re-
newed. There are about 700 trees to
the acre, and each one produces one
bunch of fruit. New plantations are
started by setting out young sprouts
about two feet high. The gathering
of the bananas differ. In Central
America the native Indians are EN-
ployed. They cut the tree with 8
machete until it bends over so as to
bring the bunch within reach. 1t is
then cut of and carried on the backs
of the men down to the ships which
run up therivers. The loadingis usual
ly done by forming line and passing
the punches from hand to hand
This is not very pleasant
work, as the punches oft,
sn contain scorpions, tarantulas
centipedes and other venomous IN
sects that get shaken out Of the
punches as they are passed and bite
the handler. In Jamaica the negro
women are used to load the fruit, and
IN cuba both n5grOs anu nttitDreedS
are employed. In the hold OF the yes
sell the bananas are placed In bins
holding several hundred punches each
and arranged to admit all Of the all
possible. The yentilationliss SO import
ant that large canvas tunnels called
wind sails are fixed on the deck sc
as to.csatch the wind and carry it dowr
into the hold. In winter much care il
necessary to prevent the cargo from
freezing on the voyage or while unload
ing. Bananas are almost the o1ly
fruit that is always in season. They
arrive at this port every month in th'
year. During the poorest months Il
midwinter we receive 10000 lunches
and in summer the number frequently
reaches $50, 900 lunches"